NEWARK – Jaromir Jagr had that look sitting at his locker like the Devils had just lost.

Ten feet to his left on a bench, linemate Travis Zajac was grinning from ear to ear talking about scoring his first NHL hat trick and matching his career-high with four points on a Monday night the Devils retained playoff hope with a 6-3 win over the Florida Panthers.

Seeing and hearing Jagr, you wouldn’t know he had a big evening, too, with a goal and three assists for his first four-point game since opening night last season when he was making his debut with the Dallas Stars.

One of the first questions Jagr was asked afterward was whether he’s still believing in his team, which now sits three points out of a playoff spot with seven to play.

“We gotta play better hockey than today,” Jagr snapped in response. “That’s for sure. Otherwise we don’t have a chance. We’ve gotta play better hockey. We were lucky.”

Jagr felt the Devils were fortunate to get a goal 12 seconds into the game – “they were sleeping,” he said – and then more fortunate to come away with two points after they nearly blew a 3-0 lead.

“I don’t know what’s wrong,” Jagr said. “We had a 3-0 lead and it could be bleeping 5-0 lead. We played like it’s a bleeping preseason game.”

You know Jagr is mad when the bleeps come out.

The Devils’ 3-0 first-period lead turned to 3-1 by the end of the period when Florida scored a shorthanded goal, then 3-2 early in the second. The Devils made it 4-2, but Florida scored again to cut the lead to one with a goal that ended goalie Martin Brodeur’s night 6:35 into the second after just five saves on nine shots.

Brodeur headed into the dressing room after being pulled, then returned to the bench a minute later wearing a baseball cap to sit in the far right seat, the spot whichever Devils goalie not playing always sits during home games.

Right next to Brodeur, Jagr stood up and leaned over to give the goalie a pat and then talk into his ear until he hit the ice for his next shift about a minute later.

“It wasn’t his fault, so I felt bad for him,” Jagr said. “We were playing bad. We were bleeping playing bad.”

Jagr sure wasn’t at fault.

His line was as good as it’s been all season scoring five of the six goals and racking up 12 points.

Besides Jagr and Zajac’s four points apiece, left wing Ryane Clowe accounted for a goal and two assists before leaving the game in the second period with a injury that could be his second concussion of the season. Replacement left wing Tuomo Ruutu also added an assist in the third period when Zajac scored his third goal.

“The last four games, we had such tough luck, our line,” Jagr said after running his team-best point total to 64 on 24 goals and 40 assists in 75 games. “Travis probably had seven breakaways. My pucks stopped on the goal line all the time. All of them. I didn’t feel bad. I felt great. So I knew … I believed something good was going to happen. That’s the way it is. Our line was lucky. We could have had five more easily.”

Eventually Jagr’s mood lightened. Ragging on Zajac for shooting wide on two great chances in the first period for his third goal had Jagr laughing.

“He could have had a hat trick in first 10 minutes if he paid attention to the puck,” Jagr said. “He shouldn’t have to wait until the third period. He could have celebrated after 10 minutes. But he likes the hard way, I guess.”

Someone asked Jagr if he was surprised that Zajac, with his talent, hadn’t had an NHL hat trick until now.

“No, I’m not surprised,” Jagr deadpanned. “It would surprise me if he would have had a hat trick.”

Jagr laughed hard.

When someone Jagr why he wasn’t surprised, No. 68 shot back, “You said with his skill!”

Jagr laughed again.

Jagr enjoys playing with Zajac, but he thinks the 6-foot-3, 28-year-old center can be a better offensive player than he's showed this season scoring 16 goals and 43 points in 73 games.

“With him, one thing he has to learn,” Jagr said, “he likes to do everything 100 percent ... the way he plays defense. But offensively, sometimes you’ve got to have patience. You don’t have to skate 100 percent everywhere. You’ve gotta have your patience and I think he needs to learn that a little bit. Once he learns that, he’s gonna score a lot more hat tricks.”

All in all, Jagr knows this night was a success because the Devils won, but the complaining in his post-game interview was a message for teammates that they need to play better Tuesday night in Buffalo despite the Sabres owning the worst record in hockey. He remembers the Devils losing 2-1 in Buffalo in Jan. 4.

“I’m glad we won because now we have a reason to play for something even tomorrow,” Jagr said. “I think if we would lose, it would be pretty tough to make it, but we have a chance again. But if we play like that tomorrow, we’re not gonna win.”